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Daemon World
A Daemon World is a planet twisted and corrupted by the power of Chaos and the Warp after being trapped in a prolonged Warp rift. Entwining the impossibilities of the Warp and the reality of the material universe, Daemon Worlds are not bound by the laws of physics, but by the whim of their daemonic rulers and the emotions of their mortals' collective unconsciousness. Daemon Worlds are usually ruled by a Daemon Prince, who can shape the world's environment to his liking due to the pure psychic mutability of the Warp. Each of these worlds is a bizarre sub-reality ruled by their terrible Daemon Princes. The majority of the known Daemon Worlds are to be found within the great Warp rift known as the Eye of Terror. Those few that are known to exist within realspace within the boundaries of the Imperium of Man are rigorously quarantined by the forces of the Imperial Inquisition. These worlds are rarely subject to an Exterminatus, as the reality-shifting effects which predominate in the local space around a Daemon World usually preclude any attempt by the Imperium to eliminate it. This is one reason why the Inquisition will move so swiftly and mercilessly to unleash a purge upon any world where the Forces of Chaos gain a hold, to preclude them from transforming it into another Daemon World that will be impossible to eradicate from Imperial space. The four major Chaos Gods continuously compete to possess the Daemon Worlds. Armies of daemons and their living allies fight huge and bloody battles to determine which of the Chaos Powers will dominate them, adding the world to their realms within the Warp. These battles often last for hundreds of years, so that the entire world becomes little more than a gigantic arena where the opposing forces are pitched against each other. The Chaos Powers do not, of course, appear in person to lead their armies -- they are spectators to events, not participants. Their generals are Greater Daemons and favoured Daemon Princes who, because they were once alive as mortals, understand the nature of both the material universe and the Immaterium. The most powerful of human psykers have reportedly had visions of worlds located in the Eye of Terror. On one world a black sun stands in a white sky and smoky threads pour from it onto a tangled black city. This is Medrengard, the world of the Daemon Primarch Perturabo of the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion. Another planet within the Eye is marked by lakes of blood from which spheres of fire float into the air and spread their light across the sky. This is Bubonicus, the world of the Daemon Prince of the same name, a servant of Nurgle. Visions of such places routinely disturb potent psykers across the galaxy, and can presage an attempt at daemonic possession. Once a Daemon Prince has conquered a Daemon World or brought a world from the physical universe into the Warp, his grateful Patron gives it to him as a gift to rule over as he wishes. When a Daemon Prince takes control of his hard-won world he uses his mighty sorcerous powers to reshape it into a form which pleases him. Because of this, every Daemon World is different and all are equally horrific in their own way. Life on a Daemon World in the Eye of Terror ruled by the Word Bearers Traitor Legion]] Most Inquisitorial visits to Daemon Worlds are short-lived and matters of dire necessity. This makes useful information regarding how a planet bathed in Warp energies appears or behaves very rare indeed. The few reliable accounts, however, detail that survival comes at a high cost and a portion of one’s soul is almost always the first down payment. Tales of being hunted by daemons over changing terrain are common, confrontations with one's worst fears frequent; seeing friends and loved ones die is a prevailing theme. Natural laws cease to be constants. Rocks bleed or cry out when picked up. Some tales speak of mortals having to reassemble their bodies every morning in order to get up. There is no shortage of madness on these worlds. Some sages of forbidden lore postulate that either those trapped on these worlds control some of the makeup of the world or that the daemons rely on the constant stream of emotional output to ensure the survival and continued propagation of their "guests." Though other ideas are shopped among the halls of the greatest daemonologists, what is very clear is that there are very few human beings strong enough to survive the barrage of horrors these worlds create. The few who have survived, and who have been able to tell their tales, have commented that the luckiest among them are those already dead. Some Daemon Worlds are devoted to a single Chaos God, or ruled by a powerful Daemon Prince, but many are cauldrons of unending war where no individual or faction dominates. While not improbable, places where daemons can find stability outside of their nightmare realm are a rare commodity, and thus attract much competition from other denizens of the Warp. Many of the explored Daemon Worlds are eternal battlegrounds, where any human inhabitants are caught in the daemonic crossfire. When a planet is classified as a Daemon World, it is present in realspace or has been at some time. It is in these rare moments that Imperial agencies such as the Adeptus Astartes might be tasked with reconnaissance of the location. Occasionally, along with lost relics and new insights, survivors are found with sanity and souls intact. The blessed individual who has withstood the horrors of a Daemon World offers the Inquisition unique opportunities. Since most others who are still alive are certifiably insane or catatonic, they are a source of somewhat reliable information which is all but impossible to obtain any other way. Though always sequestered after rescue to ensure safety, many of these people have skill sets far too valuable to leave dormant behind locked doors. Those who make it off these accursed worlds often come from backgrounds that lend themselves to withstanding the horrors of the Warp. One characteristic that many of these survivors show is a stronger connection to the Warp. They are forever attuned to disturbances and entities from the other side of the veil. While this skill only seems to be active in realspace, this sensitivity allows them to know when daemonic entities or psychic phenomena are nearby. Those few capable of explaining how it works for them indicate that it is an infusion of colour and brilliance in what is largely a grey world. These rare individuals come to an Inquisitor's service bearing the scars of exposure. Odd compulsions, night terrors, and paranoia are common among these survivors. Many display wills of steel, forged in their daily resistance to their daemonic homeland, or possess humour bitter and dark to reflect the horrors they have lived through. Knowing this, Inquisitors using Acolytes from a Daemon World maintain a short leash on these individuals, for the threat of corruption is always strong. Nightmare Realms .]] Daemon Worlds were once planets created and ruled by the processes and laws of nature. Yet, through some cataclysmic incursion, they are now entirely claimed by the Warp, forming permanent islands of the Immaterium in the midst of realspace. A daemon can move unhindered from the Warp to one of the Daemon Worlds and the four Great Powers of Chaos continuously compete to possess them. Armies of daemons and their living allies fight huge and bloody battles to determine which of the Chaos Powers will hold sway. These battles often last for hundreds of subjective Terran years, so that the entire world becomes little more than a gigantic arena where the opposing forces are pitched against each other. They represent the eternal conflict known as the Great Game between the Ruinous Powers, manifested in a very real way through the deeds and drives of those who would serve them. The generals of these armies are Greater Daemons and Daemon Princes, the latter because they were once alive as mortals and understand the nature of both the material universe and the immaterial Realm of Chaos. Once a Daemon Prince has conquered a world, he claims it as it own to rule in his patron’s name as he wishes. ]] When a Daemon Prince takes control of his hard-won world he uses his mighty powers to reshape it to a form that pleases him. Because of this, every Daemon World is different and all are equally spectacular in their own way. Some are host to oceans of bubbling viscera, while some are shaped into grinning skulls visible from millions of kilometres away. Some have landscapes that could only be possible in the Warp, such as mountains floating in the sky or volcanoes into which rivers of lava flow backwards. The mortal population of a Daemon World serves Chaos in two equally important ways. Mortals provide the manpower for the armies of Chaos, especially for the armies that invade the material universe. Mortals worship the uncaring Chaos Gods and in so doing swell their presence in the Warp. Although the Eye of Terror seethes with almost perpetual war, not every mortal creature is necessarily harnessed to battle. Only those who are brave enough to fight their way to freedom from the slave-pits, prayer gangs, and black manufactoria may fight in the name of Chaos and so draw power from it. The remainder serve through work and worship. Slaves are rewarded in the bitter way of Chaos, learning to love the lash. They become frenzied with pleasure as they approach extremes of self-sacrifice, trying to outdo their neighbours in their efforts to please their overlords. Many populations labour not in the daemonic foundries, but in planet-sized prayer-hordes. Countless millions are whipped into a fervour of devotion, the Warp resounding to their frenzied prayers while the Ruinous Powers grow all the more powerful through their sacrifice. Below can be found a list of the most well-known Daemon Worlds in the galaxy: Select List of Daemon Worlds Notable Daemon Worlds *'Anathrax' - Anathrax is a Daemon World in the Eye of Terror devoted to the Lord of Plagues, Nurgle. A lush but pestilant planet, it is covered by giant bulbous fungus made up of puffy-eyed heads that cough and sneeze a grey mucous which corrupts those who touch it. During the Abyssal Crusade, the Iron Drakes Chapter of Space Marines was ambushed on the planet by its vile vegetation and Plague Marines, resulting in their eventual corruption into the warband of Chaos Space Marines known as the Grey Death. Another of The Judged Chapters on the Abyssal Crusade was also corrupted on Anathrax and renamed themselves the Talons of Anathrax. *'Bulwark' - Once a proud Fortress World, guarding the original Jericho Sector capital of Verronus, Bulwark has been claimed by the worshippers of Khorne. Unlike Venkrous, the Warp itself did not mutate the planet; instead all of the atrocities that were committed in the years following the appearance of the Hadex Anomaly were perpetrated by the citizens of Bulwark. Once, mighty bastions of adamantium and steel stood firm against the enemies of the Imperium. Now, these same structures have become charnel houses, the inhabitants constantly offering up sacrifices to the Blood God. Where Aquilas once stood proud over the buildings of the Munitorums, now sit Flesh Hounds of Khorne, perched and waiting for the chance to satiate their eternal hunger with the blood of those that offend their master. Skulls, both human and daemon, decorate every outcropping. Walls are lined with spikes, and the aqueducts pump a never-ending torrent of blood into the seas. While these crimes are despicable, the greatest atrocity was saved for the Grand Temple of the God-Emperor. The beautiful stained glass windows, once multi-coloured and depicting scenes of the Emperor's glory, now are stained only with the blood of those few priests who kept true to their faith in Bulwark’s darkest hour. The skulls of the Imperial priesthood were taken from their bodies and placed in a mound in front of the altar. The altar itself, previously depicting a scene of Sebastian Thor being touched by the hand of the Emperor, has been twisted to show that great Saint slaying the Emperor with an axe. Behind the altar now sits a throne of bronze, stained red with the blood of those used to appease their patron, and upon it sits the lord of this planet, the Daemon Prince Krakiota. With a Juggernaut of Khorne to either side, Krakiota hears the pleas and supplications of his followers. Those that he deems to be worthy are offered the ultimate reward; their life's blood is taken from them and poured into a goblet made from the skull of the former Planetary Governor. This goblet is then blessed and offered directly to the Blood God himself, in hopes that he will bring victory and bloodshed to his warrior worshippers. *'Bubonicus' - Lothar was a mortal Champion of Nurgle, born on a backwards planet which remains cut off from the rest of the Imperium to this day by Warp Storms. Raised to daemonhood by the Plague Lord, he now rules a Daemon World within the Eye of Terror named Bubonicus. Now also called Bubonicus, he has shaped his world into one of pestilence and death, covered in boiling lakes of blood from which spheres of fire float into the sky and spread their light across the firmament. This corrupt world is famous for its vast prayer gangs. The planet's equator is surrounded by a dancing human chain, that sings and dances the praises of Nurgle as they circle the planet. As they dance, the revelers slowly develop Nurgle's Rot, causing them to eventually mutate into Plaguebearer daemons. When this happens, the Plaguebearers leave to join their master and new mortals take their place so that the circle is always complete. This theatrical conceit pleases Nurgle tremendously, so much so that Bubonicus has commanded that the dance should never cease. *'Contrition' - Within the Inner Vortex of the Screaming Vortex, beyond the Daemon World of Crucible, lies what many believe to be the penultimate world of the Screaming Vortex: Contrition. The realm exists as a daemonic city, its structure continuously cast down and rebuilt as each of the Dark Gods gains and loses ascendancy. Daemons are said to hold court in the City of Contrition, concocting the most imaginative lies they whisper into the hearts of mortals. It is said that the entire daemonic metropolis resounds to the cacophonous lies of its otherworldly populace, the daemons vying continuously with one another to invent ever-more-preposterous schemes to ensnare the souls of Mankind. Those mortals entrapped by the daemons’ duplicity are said to be dragged back to Contrition, to be imprisoned within the dungeons deep in its bowels. What fate awaits such entrapped souls in those grim oubliettes is beyond the imagining of even the most Warp-touched Heretic. *'Coranin' - When the Hadex Anomaly appeared in reality, Tzeentch, the Changer of Ways, claimed the Feral World of Coranin as its own. The changes it wrought were subtle at first. Trees would sway when there was no wind, roads no longer had the same endpoint, and other such small differences. The superstitious tribesmen of the planet turned to their mystics and soothsayers for answers, but the only responses they got were to accept the changes as a sign from their god. Over a period of years, children born to the tribes were mutated. Some would have an extra limb, others would merely have eyelids that closed from the sides. In an effort to appease their god who protected them from the angry red scar in the sky, the people of Coranin venerated these changed ones and made them the leaders of the tribe. It was not until two full generations had passed did the tribes finally receive an obvious sign from their god. When an avatar of Tzeentch revealed itself to the people Coranin, it did so with a flair for the dramatic. Shrubbery grew into a maze that followed the seemingly random steps of the daemon. The leaves on every tree that the daemon passed fell from their branches and were replaced with perfect replicas made from unholy Warpfire. Rivers switched the direction that they flowed every time they were crossed. It was not until the daemon reached the largest tribal settlement on the planet that the people truly understood what their god was capable of. The daemon looked upon its worshippers and pointed to a small boy. This boy had escaped the corrupting touch of the Warp and was physically sound and unmarred. The boy strode up to the daemon and kneeled before it. The daemon placed a single claw-like hand upon the boy's head and said a few words in an unpronounceable language. With a flash of violet fire, the boy was changed from a perfect specimen of a human to a perfect specimen of a Horror of Tzeentch. From that day forward, the people of Coranin heaped offerings and prayers onto the avatar of their new master, Tzeentch. *'Crucible' - The first of the known Daemon Worlds within the Lower Vortex of the Screaming Vortex is known to Warp-seers and Heretics as Crucible, and it is a realm of pain and torment beyond anything even the most debased of mortals can imagine. This pain, so it is said, is born of that experienced by the original denizens of the Heaven-worlds that comprised the region of space that became the Screaming Vortex during the Fall of the Aeldari at the moment their existence was ended and, no matter which of the Chaos Powers is in the ascendance, that pain is so relentlessly intense it can never be erased. The nature of Crucible depends on which of the Dark Gods and their daemon legions has control over it. When Khorne is in the ascendance, it is a realm of crude violence and savage anger meted out on the souls of mortals who died in battle. When Slaanesh rules, the violence is enacted tenderly, as a gift between lovers. When Nurgle gains power over the Daemon World, the entrapped souls experience an eternity of decay and rebirth. When Tzeentch resides on Crucible, the pain is that of sanity torn asunder as the self is lost amidst seas of madness. *'Drakaasi' -''' Drakaasi is a Daemon World within the Eye of Terror, dedicated to the worship of Khorne, the Blood God. Like most Daemon Worlds, Drakaasi is mind-warpingly strange. Befitting of a world dedicated to Khorne, the world's greatest feature is a sea of blood which connects all the Chaotically strange cities of the planet. Each city has its own arena where gladiatorial games are held in honour of the Blood God. Some are no more than shanty towns sitting atop the ocean of blood, while another is a great crystal which resonates with music dedicated to the Lord of Battles, and another is nothing but a battlefield where men are constantly sent to their deaths only to add to the Skull Throne. Yet another is a massive graveyard, where the titanic remains of gigantic warriors and their weapons litter the ground and have been turned into dwellings by the new inhabitants. Each Drakaasi city honours the Blood God in its own way. Underneath the great cities of Drakaasi are many caverns where dwell the xenos called the Scaephylyds who form the slave class of this Daemon World. The most prominent facet of Drakaasi worship of the Blood God are the gladiatorial games held on the world where tens of thousands meet their deaths every day. There are many members of the ruling class on the world ranging from daemons, barbarian chieftains, amazon huntresses, Chaos Space Marines and poor men trying to act like nobility. They often get into petty squabbles which always result in open warfare. The main occupation of these leaders is to raid other worlds in the Eye of Terror and in the physical universe for slaves to fight in the great arenas of Khorne. They all, however, ultimately submit to the rule of Lord Ebondrake, a reptillian Daemon Prince who runs the games and commands the greatest Khornate army on Drakaasi. There are many separate military forces on Drakaasi all dedicated to the Blood God. The most notable of these is the Ophidian Guard of Lord Ebondrake. These vicious warriors are armoured all in black and armed with Power Swords. They are both disciplined and brutal in combat, fitting servants of the Blood God. *'''Durell - The Hive World of Durell was not the most pious of cities before the coming of the Hadex Anomaly, and once Slaanesh got its sinewy fingers into the Spire Nobles, it was impossible for anyone to stop what was coming. When the Anomaly first manifested, the first thing that was affected was Hive Primus, the seat of planetary government. The hive city was transformed from a magnificent structure of stone and steel into one of flesh. Those that were unlucky enough to have habitation quarters on the outer edges found themselves being drawn into the walls. Their bodies formed the mortar that would hold this new structure together. Their mouths were placed facing inwards, so that all could hear the moans of ecstasy and cries of agony that Slaanesh could bring to those that it favoured. The upper spires became dens of decadence and excess. The middle hive is a gathering place where all can worship Slaanesh in any manner they choose. The hive itself became a single, Grand Temple to Slaanesh. *'Eidolon' - Eidolon is a former Aeldari Maiden World hidden deep in the heart of the Eye of Terror. The land mass of the planet is in a constant state of flux and is divided into four empires, each one claimed by one of the four Ruinous Powers who wage eternal wars to encroach into their rivals' territories on the world. The planet is supposedly home to many valuable ancient artefacts dating back to the Fall of the Aeldari. *'Fool's Paradise' - Fool's Paradise is a Daemon World ruled over by the Daemon Prince Mk'lrathirix. In 999.M41 Colonel Schaeffer and his 13th Penal Legion led a raid on the planet. Though they succeeded in their mission to slay Mk'lrathirix, only two of the Imperial soldiers survived the battle. *'Kathalon' - Kathalon is a Daemon World that is dedicated to Khorne, the Blood God. Eternally at war, Kathalon finds itself the battleground for the armies of Khorne under the Bloodthirster Vangash'hagash and the daemonic legions of Tzeentch. The surface of the planet reshapes itself as the forces of one Chaos God or the other achieves temporary dominance. As Tzeentch gains the upper hand, great crystal spires erupt from the sodden ground, whilst Khorne's dominance brings seas filled with chattering skulls. The battle between the forces of the Blood God and the Lord of Change is seemingly destined to last for eternity. *'Magog' - Magog has been drawn into and exited from the Hadex Anomaly countless times in the millennia since the disturbance's first appearance. These transitions have had a substantial effect upon its only inhabitable planet and those who dwell upon it. Once this was a stable Agri-world filled with citizens loyal to the God-Emperor and the Imperial Creed. Now, it is a breeding ground and a training centre for the forces of corruption that extend into the Jericho Reach. The planet's environment and indigenous life all bear the taint of the Warp. In addition to those surviving humans, the planet is also rife with creatures spawned from the Warp. These foul daemons closely interact with the tainted humans; breeding mutants and providing a seemingly endless supply of further soldiers for the forces of the Dark Gods. Their presence serves as a powerful motivation for the tainted humans as they pay their obeisance. The mortals are constantly driven to commit acts of debauchery and cruelty in their service. *'Medrengard' - Medrengard is the Daemon World of the Daemon Prince and former Primarch Perturabo, and the current homeworld of the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion. It is seen in nightmarish visions as a world turned into a vast fortress with mountains of inconceivably high towers and dungeons penetrating into its molten core. Information gained from reconnaissance within the Eye of Terror by Imperial agents describe the world as a bleak prison planet where slaves are worked to death, great Chaotic warships are tethered to its tallest towers,and within which reside the Iron Warriors themselves. Other descriptions of Medrengard depict it as a huge fortress world with slave pits and towering pillars. In the white sky a black sun pours smoky threads down onto the surface of the corrupted world. While there appear to be no "native" inhabitants of Medrengard, the cannibalistic mutants called "the Unfleshed" are known to roam the hills and gullies. i fleet guarding the Daemon World of Oliensis.]] *'Oliensis' - Oliensis is a Daemon World located in the Eye of Terror that is devoted to Slaanesh, the Prince of Pleasure. The entire planet is actually a colossal morbidly obese man curled into a fetal position. The surface is home to hordes of Slaaneshi daemons and also serves as a base for Noise Marines of various Slaanesh-dedicated Chaos Space Marine warbands. *'Plague Planet' - The Plague Planet is the Daemon World of the Daemon Prince and former Primarch Mortarion, and homeworld of the Death Guard Traitor Legion. It is a world where disease is the norm and miasmic clouds bring contagion and death. Its diseased inhabitants pray to Nurgle for relief from their constant agony. Some of them are favoured and become the Plague Lord's Chaos Champions, and then fight among themselves for mastery and the chance to become Daemon Princes themselves. Beastmen make up a large part of the population; they are bloated with disease and flies swarm around them and breed upon their rotting flesh. The Beastmen are very proud of these signs of their God's favour, and openly boast of the number and severity of their diseases. The Plague Marines involve themselves in carrying out Mortarion's wishes and travelling to other worlds to spread Nurgle's plagues. All spacecraft which succumb to plague are eventually drawn, through the Warp, to the Plague Planet, where they become part of the planet's fleets. These Plague Fleets carry followers of Nurgle through the Warp to inhabited worlds where their destructive raids are inevitably followed by outbreaks of deathly contagion. Mortarion has shaped the planet to resemble his ancient homeworld, Barbarus. Its citizens cower in tiny villages, serving their supreme masters who reside in mighty fortress citadels far above all of them. These poor creatures should be dead and are diseased far beyond the capacity for mortal reckoning. All is ruled by the skeletal Mortarion, enthroned upon the highest part of the planet, much like his false father once was on Barbarus so long ago. Because the Plague Planet is located close to the border between the Eye of Terror and realspace, it is an excellent place to launch Chaos invasions from, especially against the nearby Imperial worlds of the Cadian Sector. *'Planet of the Sorcerers' - The Planet of the Sorcerers, officially named Sortiarius, is the current homeworld to the Thousand Sons Chaos Space Marine Traitor Legion. It is a Daemon World located deep in the Eye of Terror. With the fall of his original homeworld of Prospero during the Horus Heresy, the Daemon Prince and former Primarch Magnus the Red used his sorcerous powers to transfer Tizca, the City of Light, through the Warp to a new planet within the Eye of Terror. This planet is now the Daemon World of Magnus the Red; dark, rocky, volcanic and in constant turmoil. Its skies are filled with blazing storms of Warp energy. Towers thrust up from rocks jutting from the lava plains, and serve as twisted mockeries of what the City of Light once was. Dwarfing all other edifices on the world is Magnus' own tower, an obsidian monolith called the Tower of the Cyclops. The great, glowing eye of the Tower watches over the planet, its gaze penetrating the Warp into the material universe. This allows Magnus to sense the arcane artefacts and gifted psykers which fascinate him, so that he can despatch his Thousand Sons to raid the Imperium and seize them. When the Thousand Sons first arrived on the planet, they found it unpopulated. Over thousands of years, however, they have acquired many servants and slaves through their raids. This has created a servant underclass, some of whom have escaped their masters into the hostile lands of the Daemon World. These escaped slaves then join the nomadic warbands led by both Chaos Champions from the Thousand Sons as well as from the ranks of the escaped slaves. Often the Chaos Champions arising among the world's nomadic warbands are then recruited back to serve the Thousand Sons. Over thousands of years, a large population of Beastmen has also developed on the planet, born as the mutant children of captured humans, and forming a subordinate warrior caste for the Thousand Sons Traitor Marines. *'Sicarus' - Beneath a roiling sky of fire and blood, Sicarus is a world completely covered by vast sprawling cathedrals, temples and monuments dedicated to the worship of the Ruinous Powers of Chaos in the guise of Chaos Undivided and it is the homeworld of the Word Bearers Traitor Legion and its Daemon Prince Lorgar. Spider-legged cranes and slaves numbering in the millions constantly toil in a never-ending task to raise more structures of devotion and worship, level upon level atop the existing crumbling edifices and cathedrals, producing obelisks and spires many kilometres high. As a result, the majority of buildings on Sicarus are subterranean; a labyrinthine warren of interconnected structures devoted to the worship of Chaos. The seat of the Dark Council of Dark Apostles that rules Sicarus in Lorgar's name is the'' Basilica of the Word -- an immense cathedral fortress crowned with hundreds of five-kilometre-high barbed spires, each studded with jagged spikes, upon which are impaled countless living sacrifices dedicated to the Dark Gods. Within another structure, known as ''Templum Inficio, unseen by even his own Chaos Space Marines since the Word Bearers arrived on the world, is the Daemon Prince Lorgar who maintains a constant meditation on the will of the Chaos Powers that has remained undisturbed since the Word Bearers fled into the Eye of Terror 10,000 Terran years ago. The bodies of the Word Bearers' fallen Dark Apostles are buried in Sicarus' unholy soil. *'Temporia' - Temporia is a Daemon World located within the Eye of Terror, that seems to be dedicated to Tzeentch, the Changer of Ways. It is a mind-boggling contradiction of geography and artifice, home to cog-plateaus, helical factories, rain storms of magma, and spiraling stairways that span around newcomers. Infested by Daemon Engines and the Lesser Daemons known as Flamers, it is also home to the Warpsmith Valadrak. *'The Frozen Heart' - At the very centre of the Great Warp Storm known as the Screaming Vortex lies the Daemon World legend names the Frozen Heart. If its fellow Inner Vortex Daemon Worlds Crucible and Contrition are beyond mortal experience, then the Frozen Heart is entirely unknown, though numerous, and often contradictory myths and visions make mention of its nature. Some say it is a realm populated by the shades of the most vile of traitors, once mighty heroes whose souls have been blasted by their fell deeds and who now exist as insubstantial and ever-fading remnants of all they once were. Others say that in the Frozen Heart the eternal struggle between the Dark Gods is in perfect balance, and as such the Warp itself is eternally motionless. Some have even claimed the Frozen Heart is the graveyard of ancient gods, consecrated ground upon which none but the immortal may tread. In truth, all of these things and none of them may be true; and besides, mortal minds could never comprehend the truth and stay sane. There is a legend concerning the Frozen Heart. It is said that within the centre of the world is the unknowable dynamo that keeps the Screaming Vortex in its perpetual raging state. It is even said that if someone could master this power, they could calm portions of the Vortex, allowing fleets and armies to escape its grasp and burst forth to conquer and plunder the realm of the Corpse-Emperor in a great new Black Crusade. *'Torvendis' - Torvendis is a Daemon World located at the very centre of the Warp Storm called the Maelstrom. Due to its location, it has symbolic value to the Ruinous Powers. Torvendis' geography is in a constant state of flux and changes significantly every generation. There are two prominent features on Torvendis, the Canis Mountains, a huge mountain chain where many different peoples live, and the City of Lady Charybdia, where millions live only to worship Slaanesh. The bedrock of Torvendis itself is made up of strata comprised of the compressed bodies of those fallen in battle on the world. The history of Torvendis is dominated by the legend of Arguleon Veq, a Chaos Champion who came to the planet in ages past and did battle with a creature known as "The Last". From that time on, Torvendis would be ruled by a succession of rulers including the Khornate daemon Ss'll Sh'Karr, the Crimson Knights, Mutander and his diseased monks and finally Lady Charybdia, the Princess of Slaanesh, though there were many others as well. It was said that any who tried to record the history of Torvendis would end up going mad. The dominant power on Torvendis was Lady Charybdia, a devout devotee and Chaos Champion of Slaanesh. Her power was based on her Legions, disciplined warriors dedicated to the Pleasure God. They were equipped with bows and spears but also had access to some primitive firearms and artillery. They would use stimulants in battle to enhance the experience and many of their weapons were coated in poisons. Charybdia could also call upon untold numbers of Slaaneshi cultists in times of war and put huge numbers of slaves onto the battlefield. In dire situations her Chaos Sorcerers could call upon the daemons of Slaanesh to aid Charybdia's armies in battle. A large number of Chaos Space Marines from the Renegade Violators Chapter also fought under the banner of Lady Charybdia. The tribes of the Canis Mountains could also muster considerable strength, but nothing to compare to the Legions of Charybdia. These barbarians were primarily armed with melee weapons like swords and axes but also boasted several types of specialist troops. Both Charybdia and the tribes of the Canis Mountains used mutants in their armies as officers and shock-troops. *'Venkrous' - Once a lush and beautiful Agri-World, Venkrous was the primary producer of most large grains for the Jericho Sector. Now twisted and warped by the rotting touch of Nurgle since the birth of the Hadex Anomaly, Venkrous produces plants that are used to create vile poisons and hallucinogenic drugs. Wanting to create a planet more to his liking, the Plague Father pushed the land masses together until they created three continents where once there were nine. The next step that he took was to move the clouds out of the way so that all could look upon the glory of this creation. The clouds were moved towards the poles and turned a shade of pink so as not to distract the eye from the crowning achievement. The seas themselves, once a beautiful shade of blue, now run green with pus. Any wildlife that survived the change found itself mutated into strange new forms that spread the unholy plague to every corner of the planet. The human population of the planet was hit hardest of all. Those that staunchly refused Grandfather Nurgle's pestilent embrace were the lucky ones. They were merely executed, while those that quickly turned their worship to the Great Diseased One found themselves rewarded with a form of leprosy. Their limbs would quickly atrophy and die off over a period of seven days, but on the eighth day, the limbs that were lost would begin to grow back. The cycle repeats for eight months out of the year, but in the ninth month, the regeneration does not stop at simply regrowing the lost limbs. During that month, the limbs become bloated and grotesque mockeries of what they once were, until the last day of the month when they mercifully explode, spreading the plague amongst any who have not been gifted with it. *'World of Immortal Sorrows' - The World of Immortal Sorrows is a Daemon World located in the Eye of Terror. It is also a Crone World of the Aeldari, as it was once one of that race's centres of power before the Fall of the Aeldari's empire following the birth of Slaanesh. It is currently ruled by a Daemon Prince of Slaanesh named Elyssar'sirath, who spends eternity torturing the souls of fallen Aeldari in the name of his Dark God. *'Xana II '- Xana II is a Hell-Forge, a Dark Forge World, controlled by Hereteks of the Dark Mechanicus within the Eye of Terror. Xana is infamous for its production of advanced wargear and Daemon Engines for the Forces of Chaos. Xana II is wholly given over to daemon-possessed machines and infernal industries, where mills grind flesh and countless millions are enslaved to work in its world-spanning factories. The masters of Xana II, often half-daemon machines themselves, have long since given up their humanity and answer to none. They sell their daemonic creations to the highest bidder, whether they are Chaos Space Marines, Daemon Princes, Chaos Sorcerers, or other Heretics. They accept human currency in payment for their creations to feed their world's endless hunger for slaves and souls. Xana II is known by the Imperium to be the primary source for the aircraft such as the Hell Blade and the Hell Talon, that have recently become mainstays of the Forces of Chaos. Other than these aircraft the Imperium at present remains largely ignorant of which vehicles and weapons employed by the Forces of Chaos are patterns derived from the hell-forges of Xana II. Sources *''Black Crusade: Core Rulebook (RPG), pg. 326 *''Black Crusade: The Tome of Blood (RPG), pp. 75-113 *''Black Crusade: The Tome of Fate'' (RPG), pp. 75-79, 84-102 *''Codex: Chaos Daemons'' (4th Edition), pg. 18 *''Codex: Chaos Space Marines (6th Edition), pp. 18-19, 22 *''Codex: Eldar Crafworlds (7th Edition) (Digital Edition), pg. 7 *''Codex: Imperial Guard'' (5th Edition), pg. 23 *''Codex: Khorne Daemonkin'' (7th Edition), pg. 35 *''Codex: Skitarii'' (7th Edition), pg. 23 *''Codex: Space Marines'' (6th Edition) (Digital Edition), pg. 132 *''Crusade of Fire'' (Campaign Book), pg. 85 *''Dark Heresy: Enemies Beyond (2nd Edition) (RPG), pp. 26-27 *''Deathwatch: The Achilus Assault (RPG), pp. 87-90 *''Imperial Armour Volume Six - The Siege of Vraks - Part Two'', pg. 163 *''Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness'' (1st Edition) *''Realm of Chaos: The Lost and the Damned'' (1st Edition) *''The Citadel Journal'' 34, pg. 34 *''Dark Adeptus'' (Novel) by Ben Counte *''Dark Apostle'' (Novel) by Anthony Reynolds *''Dark Disciple'' (Novel) by Anthony Reynolds *''Hammer of Daemons'' (Novel) by Ben Counter *''The Traitor's Hand'' (Novel) by Sandy Mitchell *''Battlefleet Gothic Armada II'' (PC Game) (Oliensis Image) es:Mundos demoníacos Category:D Category:Chaos Category:Daemons Category:Daemon Worlds Category:Planets